Display device



March 4, 1958 M. A. MILBURN DISPLAY DEVICE Filed June 4, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG; 6 4+- 7 INVENTOR. MARSHALL A. Muawm BY 7 ATTQEZVEYS' M. A. MILBURN DISPLAY DEVICE March 4, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MARS/MU ,4. M/LBURA/ Filed June 4, 1956 BY 7 W ATJWKZVEYTS 2,825,161 Ice Patented Mar. 4, 1958;

DISPLAY DEVICE Marshall A. Milburn, Lafayette, Calif. Application June 4, 1956, Serial No. 589,071

8 Claims. (Cl. 40--19.5)

This invention relates to an indicia bearing card display, storageand dispensing device.

In many activities a numeric value is assigned to each participant to designate the relative order in which the participant is to proceed in the activity. conventionally each participant is assigned a number which is called orally such as over a public address system when it is his time to enter into the activity. It often occurs that the person called fails to hear his number and thereby either,

delays the others or loses his own turn. In addition, in conventional employment of this system there is usually no automatic advance notification to continually advise the participant of his relative starting time.

The present invention has wide fields of use in any crowd control situation as, for example, golf courses, bowling alleys, restaurants, theaters and many other like locations.

vA principal object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive mechanism to solve crowd control in an orderly and convenient manner by providing a display mechanism which is normally operated to transmit intelligence visually as a mechanical counter.

Another object of this invention is to provide a means employing indicia bearing cards, a dispensing device for the cards and a display and storage device for the cards to enable more convenient notification and regulation of relative time orders for participants in an activity.

In this invention there is provided a number of numerically marked cards. The cards are stacked in a dispenser in numerical order with a dispensing means provided for the dispenser for sequentially drawing the cards from the bottom of the stack so they may be issued in sequence to participants of an activity. A card display device is arranged to receive and display the card from each participant when it'is his time to start the activity. The

insertion of a new card sends the displayed card to a second card dispenser, hereinafter called a stacker, in the body ofthe display device where it falls on top of the previously inserted cards so the cards are retained in the same sequential order.

In the following description the display device is described in operation although it is understood that the device can be used in other activities such as in theaters, restaurants, sporting events and the like. On golf links, a golfer upon proceeding to the clubhouse to pay his fee will receive a card from the bottom ofthe dispenser bearing a numeral which indicates the relative order for teeing-off. The display device can conveniently be located at the first tee with a display window visible, for example, at the clubhouse or at other places customary for golfers to wait until starting time. The golfer thereupon waits until the numeral immediately preceding his is displayed in the display device and then inserts his number bearing card in the display device to indicate to the other players his numerical order.

A feature and advantage of this invention is that displi ya the lastiasen d number indicates to the remaining participants the relative numerical position of the" participant then starting so that they are immediatelyappraised of their own relative starting position.

A further feature and advantage of this invention is in the arrangement of the stacker contained in the display device to receive the cards in the order in which they are inserted in the display device and which ordinarilywill be retained in the same numerical order as initially. received, so that upon completion of the activity the stacker may be removed and employed as a dispenser to. reissue the cards in the same sequential order.

A still further feature and advantage of this invention is a mechanism in the display device which holds the last. inserted indicia bearing card in display position until another card is inserted. This function being effected by the insertion of a new card to release the last displayed card so it falls into storage position in the stacker.

And still another feature and advantage of the improved card display device is a deflecting mechanism in the display device to deflect cards passing through the neck of the display device to a position wherein they fall into stacked co-planar position in the stacker regardless of how filled or empty the receiving chamber might be.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

Fig. l is a perspective view of the display device at a golf tee.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the device partially cut away.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the back of the display device.

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a card dispenser with the card dispensing mechanism in actuating position.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan with the card dispenser mechanism in normal position.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken at line 77 of Fig. 6 showing details of the card dispensing mechanism.

Referring now to the drawing there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention including a group of consecutively numbered cards A, a card dispenser B which is arranged to sequentially dispense the cards and a display device housing C which is arranged to serially receive the cards A and to display the last received card while passing the preceding card to a stacker D which, in the preferred embodiment, is identical to dispensing hopper B.

In greater detail cards A may be formed of any con-.- venient shape and made of any convenient material; However, in the preferred embodiment of the invention cards A are made of a rigid material such as hardboard, and are dimensioned to be of uniform size, rectangular in shape and with slightly greater length than width to prevent the cards from being accidentally inserted in the display device except when longitudinally aligned there-. with. The term card as hereinafter used in the specifi-. cation and claims is intended to include any indicia bearing media whether card, disk, tag or the like. An indicia such as numerical marking 14 is imprinted on the faceof each card A registered in longitudinal alignment with' the card. The center of each card A is apertured as at 15 to provide a means for the dispenser B and display. housing C to engage the cards as is hereinafter more fully described.

Dispenser B and stacker D are both formed witha rectangular box or container 16 open at the top and having a width slightly larger than the width of card A;

,and a length slightly shorter ;than the length ota card A so a stack of cards in box 16 lies at an oblique angle. A bottom plate 18 is arranged as a bottom card support angled obliquely to support cards in co-planar relation therewith. The bottom plate -18 is mounted a short distance above the bottom of box '16 with a card dispensing actuating mechanism 19 slidably mounted under the bottom plate. The actuating mechanism comprises a guide rail 21 attached to underside of bottom plate .18 and a T-shaped slide 22 withthe extending arms 23 of the T-shaped slide slidably disposed within guide rails 21 to slidably support the slide and allow it to reciprocate toward the front and rear of bottom plate 18. A manually engageable actuating handle 24 is provided on front end 25 of slide 22 to reciprocate the slide. is slotted as at 26 in alignment with slide 22 to receive a card gripping finger 27 .pivotally mounted on the underside of the slide by a pin 28. and projecting upwardly through an aperture 29 of the slide. Pin 28 is mounted on the vertical wall 30 of slide 22 and the finger 27 is urged upwardly by a spring 31. When a stack of cards A is in the box or container 16 the bottom cards rests on bottom plate 18 with the cards aperture 15 in alignment with slot 26. Forward face 32 of the finger 27 and the rearward convex face 33 are shaped so that when mechanism 19 is moved rearwardly finger 27 is cammed downwardly by the bottom card and when moved forwardly, the forward face 32, when aligned with the cards aperture 15, engages the walls of the aperture so that the card may be forced out ofthe box 16. Front wall 34 of box 16 is slotted immediately .above bottom plate 18 with an opening 35 dimensioned toallow one card to be moved along plate 18 by finger 27 and out through the slot upon pulling handle 24 forwardly.

In one form of the device a card stack pressure relief mechanism 36is also mounted on the underside of plate 18 having a compression spring 37 urged against a bracket frame 38 mounted on the underside of the bottom plate to forcefully urge a plunger 39 upward through an aperture 40 in the bottom plate. The plunger relieves frictional pressure between the bottom card and the plate to lessen frictional drag between card and plate.

In operation a stack of cards A is placed in box 16 and rests on plate 18 in oblique co-planar relation. Mechanism 19 isthen manually pushed by handle 24 inwardly until finger 27 is registeredto engage with aperture 15 of thebottom card A. .The mechanism is then manually pulled outwardly, pullingwith it the bottom card of the stackthrough slot or opening 35. The next card may be dispensed by repeating the same process. It is evident that the cards .will be dispensed in the same order as stacked in box 16.

The display device housing, referring particularly to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, comprises a main body having an elongated hollow throat 52 approximately of the size of one card in length and one card thickness in width and forming a card passageway opening into the interior of body 50. The throathas a front wall 51 with a window area 53 formed of plastic material such as Plexiglas to display the indicia or numerical markings 14 on a card within throat 52. A rear wall 54 is provided to define the back of the throat 52. The upper open end of the throat 52 is flared outwardly to guide cards into registry in the window area.

A plunger 55 is pivotally mounted on the outside of rear wall 54 as at 56 and enters the throat through aperture 57 in the rear wall so that when a card A is inserted in throat 52 the plunger frictionally engages the card. A bracket frame 58 supports plunger 55 and a spring 59 normally urges a flanged stop 60 of the plunger against the outside of rear wall 54 to hold theplunger within throat 52 in spaced relation with the front window 53.

Plunger 55 is aligned transversely in throat 52 with apertures 15 of cards in the throat. When a card is ini' tially inserted in throat 52 the leading edge of the card displaces plunger 55 so the plunger is thereafter urged Bottom plate 18 against a face of the card. When the cards aperture is aligned vertically with the plunger, the plunger moves forward so that it requires additional force to again displace the plunger wherein the card is locked in an intermediate position in the throat 52. In this position the card is in registration with window 53 so that indicia 14 imprinted thereon is clearly displayed.

A second card A inserted in throat 52 forces the card held in place by plunger 55 downwardly, thereby displacing the plunger out of aperture 15 so the card held by the plunger is freed to pass downwardly through the throat into the body 50.

Throat 52 is offset slightly from arear wall 66 of the body 50 to allow a card deflecting mechanism 67 to be mounted in the body under and "rearwardly of the rear wall 54. The deflecting assembly 67 comprises a fixed plate 68 and a relatively moveable concave plate 69 with a lower lip 71 pivotally disposed to first deflect the bottom edge of falling cards towards a front wall 72 of body 50 and is then forced by the card to retract as the card drops from throat 52. This causes the card to be deflected from a vertical to a more nearly horizontal position. A resilient member, such as spring 73, attached to fixed plate 68 urges the lip .71 of concave plate 69 to pivot forward about a mounting pivot 74 attached to fixed plate 68. Two guide members 75 are mounted on each of the two side walls 76 and 77 of body 50 to hold the angle of deflection of a card at a predetermined oblique angle. In body 50 directly under the deflecting assembly is the stacker D with the front of the stacker facing the adjacent rear wall 66 of the body so cards deflected from assembly 67 are directed to fall in the stacker in coplanar relation with its bottom plate 18.

The deflector assembly 67 acts as a guide for cards to assure that a falling card released from the throat is disposed properly in stacked position regardless of stack height. The spring deflector prevents dislocation of card position and consequent jamming and stack disorder.

Front wall 72 of body 50 is hinged as at 80 on bottom 81 of body 50 and locked with top 82 of body 50 by a lock 83. Upon unlocking lock 83 front wall 72 pivots downwardly to allow access to the interior of body 50 for removal and replacement of the stacker D.

In operation and referring to Fig. 2 when a card A is inserted in throat 52 it passes downwardly until its aperture 15 is engaged by plunger 55 and is there held in position wherein the indicia 14 on the card is displayed through transparent wall 53. The next card forces the first card downwardly and thus displaces plunger 55 so the first card is freed to fall downwardly. As the card falls it is deflected by the deflecting mechanism 67 with concave plate 69 and guide members 75 guiding the card to fall at an oblique angle in order to ultimately rest on bottom plate 18 of stacker D. It can be seen therefore that the cards will fall in the stacker in the same order as initially fed into through throat 52 regardless of stack height in box 16,

Normally the cards are initially in numerical order and dispensed from dispenser B in serial fashion wherein they are given to participants of an activity in the same order. A participant is informed of his turn to enter into the activity by the appearance of a card bearing the number immediately preceding his in the display housing C. He then inserts his card into throat 52 where the card is therein displayed to inform the next participant of his status. As each participant inserts his card into throat 52' the previous participants card falls through the throat into stacker D in body 50 of the display housing. After the cards issued from dispenser B have been fed into display housing C front wall 72 can be swung open and stacker D removed and later employed as a dispenser while the dispenser B can be inserted in the body 50 of the display housing C and thereafter function as a stacker. The cardsin the removed stacker D normally will be in "the same numerical order 'as initially dispensed from dispenser B so that they anew without refilling.

Thus it can be seen'that the invention may be used in a great variety of situations where crowd control is otherwise a diflicult and perplexing problem. The display device through window 53 always indicates to the crowd the relative numerical position of the last person entering into the activity.

Although the foregoingdisplay device has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An indicating device to display a marking on a centrally apertured indicia bearing card comprising: a housing formed to provide an elongated upstanding throat, a window opening to theinterior of said throat to display a card in said throat, said throat dimensioned to receive and pass cards through the throat with the indicia marked on said cards being rendered visible through said window opening during passage therethrough, and latch means disposed to enter the apertured portion of a card to hold the card in the throat in registry with the window opening, said latch means arranged to yield to downward pressure against the held card to release said card and allow it to fall downwardly through the throat.

2. Anindicating device to display a marking on an indicia bearing card of uniform size comprising: a housing formed to provide anelongated upstanding throat, and a card storage compartment under the throat, said throat dimensioned to receive one card at a time and guide the card downwardly through the throat to the card storage compartment, a window rendering the interior of said throat visible to display the indicia marking on a card in said throat, latch means to hold a card in the throat in an intermediate position in registry with the window opening, said latch means being arranged to release the held card and allow the card to fall downwardly through the throat upon a second card being forced down into said throat, and card guide means below said throat to deflect cards falling vertically from the throat to a substantially horizontal position with the indicia bearing face of the card facing upwardly to direct the card to fall from said throat in a co-planar stack in said storage compartment.

3. An indicating device to display a marking on a centrally apertured indicia bearing card of a uniform predetermined size comprising: a housing formed to provide an elongated upstanding throat dimensioned to serially receive the cards, latch means operably associated with said throat to enter the aperture of a card to hold the card in a display position in the throat, said latch means arranged to yield to downward pressure against the held card rendered by a subsequent card being inserted in said throat to release the said held card and allows it to fall downwardly through the throat and thereby enter the aperture of said subsequently added card to lock the card in display position, means to render indicia on a card visible exteriorly of said throat when the card is in said display position, and a retractable guide means under said throat resiliently urged to a first card deflecting position and retractable to a second position upon engagement by a card to force the bottom edge of a fallen card outwardly whereby said falling card is deflected to fall in a more horizontal orientation and to be thereafter retracted to the second position to allow the free fall of the card downwardly onto a coplanar stack of cards positioned substantially below the retractable guide means.

4. An indicating and storage device to display indicia markings on centrally apertured cards of a uniform predetermined size comprising: a housing formed to provide an enlarged interior body cavity and an elongated may thereafter be dispensed 6 throat opening to the interior 'of said body cavity, a window opening to said throat to display a card in said throat, said throat dimensioned to serially receive and pass cards through the throat to the body cavity with the indicia marked on said cards being rendered visible through said window during passage therethrough, a plunger pivotally mounted on the outside rear wall of said throat and movable to a first position within the throat to engage the aperture of the last added said card in the throat and holdsthe card with the indicia on the card registered to be visible through said window, a plunger movable to a second position farther out of said throat upon application of downward pressure against the held card to cause release of said card and allows it to fall through the throat to the body cavity of said housing, and card deflecting means disposed in the housing adjacent the bottomof said throat to deflect cards passing through said throat to fall ,at an angle wherein successively said cards are stacked one, on the other in co-planar relation.

5. A device for indicating relative numerical position within a numerical sequence marked on a plurality of sequentially numbered cards each having its numerical value clearly marked on at least one face of the card comprising: a card display device, a pair of card dispensers disposed to carry a stack of cards arranged in sequential order, dispensing means mounted on each said dispenser to dispense cards serially from the bottom of the card stack, the first said dispenser mounted externally of said device to dispense cards in sequential order, the second said card dispenser mounted interiorly of said device in position to stack cards received by said device, said device having a throat dimensioned approximately equal to the cross-section of one card to form a card passage to the second dispenser, card deflecting means under said throat to deflect cards falling through said throat to fall at an angle and position to form a coplanar stack in said second dispenser, a window in the throat of said housing to display a numerical value marked on a card in said throat, and means to lock each card in said throat in registry with said window until another card is inserted in said throat, whereby cards dispensed from said first dispenser inserted in said device are received and stacked in the same order as inserted in said device whereafter the first and second dispensers are interchangeable to allow said second dispenser to serially dispense cards in the same order as inserted in said stacker and said first dispenser to stack cards received by said device.

6. An indicating and storage device to display indicia markings on a card of a uniform predetermined size and thereafter store the card comprising: a housing formed to provide an enlarged interior body cavity and an elongated throat opening to said body cavity, a window opening to said throat to display contents in said throat, said throat dimensioned to serially receive and pass cards through the throat to the body cavity with the indicia marked on said cards being rendered visible through said window during passage therethrough, latch means to engage the last added said card in the throat and hold the card with the indicia on the card registered to be visible through said window, said latch means comprising a spring urged arm mounted on the wall of said throat to engage the card to hold the card aligned with said window, said latch means disposed to yield to downward pressure against said card to release said card and allow it to fall through the throat to the body cavity of said housing, a card stacker box in said body cavity, deflecting means disposed in the housing adjacent the bottom of said throat to deflect cards passing through said throat to fall at an angle wherein successively said cards are stacked one on the other in co-planar relation in said stacker box, said deflecting means comprising 'a member pivotally mounted adjacent a wall of said housing and having resilient means normally urging said member toward the opposite wall of said housing, card dispensing meansv monntedon said stacker box to serially dispense cards .in.

thesame order as received, and means to enable said stacker box to be removed from said housingto enable cards to be dispensed therefrom in the same sequence as received therein.

7. An indicating device to display and dispense indicia bearing cards formed of a standard predetermined size and shape and apertured adjacent the centermost portion of the card comprising: a hollow. housing having a card receiving portion, a window opening in said portion to display a card disposed therein, said portion being restricted in size and dimension to allow a'card to pass therethrougb in one plane of passage, an enlarged portion of said housing below said ,card receiving portion and in card communication therewith, said enlarged portion provided with a card dispensing means to dispense cards in accordance with their stackedsequence, said card dispensing means comprising a card stacker box in which cards are substantially horizontally stacked after passing through the card receiving portion of said housing, said stacker box formed with a front side provided with a card dispensing slit adjacent the bottom of the stacker dimensicnecl to allow a single bottom card of the stack of cards within the box to be removed from the stacker box, said stacker box provided with a bottom plate ,slitted substantially normal to the front wall, a slider reciprocally mounted to the underside of the ,bottom' of the stacker box having a card engaging hook member disposed to reciprocally ride within the slit formed at the bottom of said stacker box, said hook vertically movable in a first position whereat the hook projects upwardly above the bottomv end to a second position whereat the hook projects below the upper surface of the bottom of the stacker box, means to resiliently bias said hook in the first position, said hook formed with a rear surface formed to cam the hook downwardly to the second position when said slider is moved rearwardly of the front surface and formed with a front edge constructed and ar ranged toiengage the apertured portion of the bottom card of the cards within said stacker box to pull the card along the bottom of the stacker box out through the slit in the front panel 8. A device according to claim 7 and wherein the bottom of said stacker box is disposed at an angle wherein the portion, of.theibottom adjacent the front of the box is disposed substantially higher than the portion ofthe bottom adjacent the rear of the stacker box whereby said cards areslittedtso as tobe slidably moved upwardly through the dispensing front panel slit in the stacker box.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 931,260 Boulard Aug. 17, 1909 1,166,348, Godberson Dec. 28, 1915 1,791,586 Todd Feb. 10, 1931 2,022,407 Cordone Nov. 26, 1935 2,085,395 Sebell June 29, 1937 2,635,026 Kreul Apr. 14, 1953 

